Presently, there is no method by which 99.9% purity copper can be recovered from ores by a single procedure. Different methods are used to recover and refine copper. For example, the most common method is the heap leaching method for copper oxides and subsequent electrowinning of copper cathodes, wherein the following basic steps are performed:    1. Grinding the ore under ¾″ (1.905 cm)    2. Agglomerating the resulting material with common sea water mixed with sulfuric acid.    3. Storing the agglomerate in a heap and spraying the heap with the former liquid mixture for many months.    4. Storing the liquid obtained in an extraction tank thereby obtaining a copper-rich solution.    5. Desalting and demineralizing the solution.    6. Conducting the copper-rich solution or electrolyte to the electrowinning tank, wherein cathodes are obtained.
Likewise, there are patent documents that allow recovering metals from their mineral form present in the ores by means of electrolytic processes, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,003, entitled “Process for the electrolytic recovery of lead, silver and zinc from their ore”, which discloses a method to extract zinc, silver and/or lead from their sulfated and mixed ores and ore concentrates. The method comprises electrolyzing a finely divided mixed ore in the presence of a catalyst in the anodic chamber or compartment of an electrolytic cell, said catalyst including a cupric halide ionic complex (CuX) in aqueous hydrogen halide, being chloride the preferred halide. The cupric halide ionic complex initiates a reaction under the influence of an applied electric current, thereby generating an oxidizing species that attacks and oxidizes the solids in the anodic chamber or compartment. The cupric halide (CuX2), preferably cupric chloride, is further added to avoid hydrogen sulfide evolution, particularly when iron and zinc sulfides are present. An ion-selective permeable membrane is used to separate the anodic compartment, which contains the mixture of ores and reactants, from the cathodic compartment. This patent is not intended for copper extraction.
In the closest state of the art, it is possible to find U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,552, entitled “Electrolytic production of copper from ores and concentrates”, equivalent to Spanish Patent EP 445,459, which describes a process to extract copper from a copper-containing ore or concentrate that comprises immersing the ore or concentrate into an electrolyte, intimately mixing the slurry to incorporate finely dispersed air or other oxygen-containing gas, and maintaining the mixture pH in the range from 1.5 to 7 throughout the process. Iron is dissolved in the process and it precipitates as ferric oxide, while copper is taken into solution. The process is carried out substantially at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures ranging from 50° C. to the electrolyte boiling point. The electrolyte is an acid one and contains chloride ions concentrated enough to maintain in solution or in saturation every copper ion present. Furthermore, the patent document claims this process to be performed in an electrochemical cell with a diaphragm, which has an anodic compartment and a cathodic compartment to collect the extracted metal. The main differences between the abovementioned patent document and the present invention are the following:                The present invention is different because it does not require air injection.        Furthermore, the present invention is also different in the temperature used, because the abovementioned patent requires it to be within the range from 50 to 105° C., preferably 85° C., and the process of the invention operates at room temperature or at the temperature naturally reached by the solution, avoiding heating or cooling requirements.        The present invention also differs in mobility and used materials; the device of the present invention is portable and interchangeable, and is made of different materials, preferably titanium or stainless steel.        Another advantage of the process of the present invention is that it exclusively recovers copper with a purity level of 99.9%, even when the carrier material may contain other contaminant metallic elements such as iron and silica. On the contrary, in the examples of the abovementioned patent the recovered copper appears mixed with a percentage of silver and iron as contaminant elements.        